What is the cost of a wish? In the world of Magimoji Rurumo, it is the wisher's life. Kota Shibaki, an extremely perverted high school student, finds this out the hard way. One day he finds a book in the library about how to summon witches. Kota uses the book and jokingly wishes for a pair of panties. To his dismay, he actually receives a pair. Even more shocking to Kota, though, is when Rurumo, the petite witch who is the owner of the panties, arrives at his home to take her panties back and to kill Kota as part of the contract for fulfilling his wish. However, because Rurumo is a bit of a troublemaker herself, Kota ends up saving Rurumo from harsh punishment. Because of this, Rurumo refuses to take Kota's soul. Unfortunately good deeds don't go unpunished, as Rurumo is busted down to an apprentice level for failing to complete Kota's contract.

As part of Rurumo's training to regain her proper status as a witch, her talking cat familiar, Chiro, gives Kota a booklet with 666 magic tickets that gives Kota carte blanche over Rurumo's magic. The tradeoff is that each time Kota uses a ticket, his life is shortened, and once every ticket is gone, he dies. Only Chiro and Kota are privy to this information, though, so Rurumo doesn't know that she is slowly killing Kota through her training. This leaves Kota in a predicament. Does he help Rurumo complete her training, or does he save his own skin?

In many ways, Magimoji Rurumo, which is based on a manga by Wataru Watanabe, the same person behind the amazing Yowamushi Pedal, reminds me of last year's The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat. Much like Henneko, Magimoji Rurumo is a series about wishes that has a pervy edge to it and is animated by J.C.Staff. However that isn't where the similarities end, either. Both shows have genuine heart underneath their ecchi exterior. And in Magimoji Rurumo that comes through via its themes of friendship and the limitations of magic. Make no mistake, though, Magimoji Rurumo has plenty of ecchi moments. For example, Kota has so far motorboated a buxom police officer twice. Why she hasn't hauled him off to jail for sexual assault, let alone assaulting an officer, I don't know, but I digress.

However, aside from similar styles, themes, and sharing the same studio, Magimoji Rurumo and Henneko are pretty different series, and like most cases, this is because of the characters. Right off the bat is Kota. Yes he is a mega pervert, taking any and all chances he gets to see girls in their underwear. But at same time, he is kind of philosophical about it all, waxing poetic the virtues of getting a perfectly timed peek at panties, or how the size of breasts don't matter, it's what's behind them that count. Then there is Rurumo, who is constantly stoic and monotone and knows jack all about the human world, constantly needing help with technology, transportation, even customs as simple as wearing swimsuits to the beach. On top of that, she is impossibly clumsy, tripping over nothing and spilling or dropping anything she carries. But perhaps the dark horse character in the show is Kota's mom, who makes for a horrifying yandere, brandishing a knife at Kota for almost anything. Specifically she won't let him bring home girls or pets, with the slightest sign that he has done so setting her off into a state of perpetual dead eyes as she goes onto a warpath to catch Kota in the act.

Ultimately, Magimoji Rurumo is not a show for everyone. It has some heart and good comedy to it, but it also has the massive hurdle of being an ecchi series, a quality that can instantly turn many people away. If you enjoyed The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat, then you should have no problem enjoying Magimoji Rurumo. For anyone on the fence, I highly suggest at least giving Magimoji Rurumo a try. To see if Magimoji Rurumo is a show for you, please check it out on Crunchyroll.